2 arrested in La Mesa "hot prowl" burglary

Two teens were arrested Wednesday by La Mesa police shortly after a woman reported a burglar came through a screen window at her Lake Park condominium after she failed to answer a knock at her door.

The incident was reported shortly before 4 p.m. at the sprawling condo complex on Baltimore Drive near Lake Murray Boulevard.

The woman said two young black men knocked on her front door for several minutes, but she did not answer because she did not know them. A short time later, she heard her kitchen window screen being removed and saw one of them coming through the window, said La Mesa police Lt. David Bond. She yelled and the suspect fled.

La Mesa police officers, assisted by a Sheriff’s Department helicopter, responded and arrested two teens a few blocks away. One had a loaded concealed gun that was determined to have been stolen during another recent La Mesa residential burglary, Bond said.

The suspects, ages 16 and 17, both of La Mesa, were taken to Juvenile Hall and will be charged with burglary and possession of stolen property, Bond said. The 16-year-old also will be charged with possession of a loaded concealed gun, he said.